Blame It on the Autobots: Action Movies Make You Gain Weight

There goes your Doritos-fueled Marvel marathon.

It's a random weekday night. You're winding down, watching some stuff blow up/aliens invade Earth, and, oh yeah, there's Chris Evans going to town on a punching bag. But while you're taking in the view, you might also be taking in calories you don't need.

A Cornell University study has found viewers eat more while watching action movies than they do while watching interview shows. Researchers randomly assigned nearly 100 undergraduates to watch 20 minutes of The Island, The Island sans sound, or Charlie Rose, and not-so-surprisingly, the subjects chowed down the most while slumped in front of a TV broadcasting Scarlett Johansson's escape from dystopia.

Given their associations with chomping on something, the movie theater and your couch are definitely not the optimal places to practice mindful eating. So the takeaway here is this: Stuff your face where you're actually focused enough to think about—and enjoy—what you're consuming.

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